Poppies in Flanders’ Fields

Yes, we still wear our poppies proudly and remember – yet we still have the world’s politicians willing to commit the young of every country to more of the same. We have natural disasters and everyone with a speck of humanity, rallies to the aid of the victims – which is as it should be in a world where distance holds few problems.

Yet, too often, our young troops, wounded or maimed in mind as well as body, are left to get on with what remains of their lives as best they can, rotting amid their own mental nightmares with their families being forced to share the situation as it is, and often becoming victims too.

It’s almost impossible to expect career soldiers, trained to fight and kill those they are informed are their enemies because they happen to be on the opposing side, to then switch back to benevolent mode upon the say so of politicians. The same politicians who, having provoked the fighting, sat back watching what happened while even making fortunes out of the conflict, decide to call a halt to the slaughter and recall their soldiers; making them pick up the threads of the life they’d left.

Perhaps the remedy would be to put all those who sit at the top into the arena of life and let them slog it out while we watch; even cheering from the safety of the sidelines, whoever tickles our fancy. It would save lives and let our young live theirs, instead of sacrificing them for a dream that turned out to be a nightmare…